Women's Marathon Record Mystery

Violet Piercy is famous for running a marathon. But did she really do it?

"Violet Piercy--GBR3:40.22.0--Chiswick--03 OCT 1926"

That entry tops the women's marathon world-record progression in David Martin and Roger Gynn's classic The Marathon Footrace (1979).

There have long been questions. That year, London's annual Polytechnic Marathon from Windsor finished at Stamford Bridge, not Chiswick, and was on May 29, not October 3. Nothing else was known about Piercy. There was a suggestion that a variety show performer was called Violet Piercy, but no link was forged to the marathoner.

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Now the mystery woman has to move aside. Research by Britain's Andy Milroy and Peter Lovesey, and America's John Brant, shows that Piercy in fact did a solo run, starting at Windsor and ending at Battersea. It was about 22 miles. "Marathon" at that time often meant merely "long road run." Piercy's 3:40:22 for 22 miles was admirable, in an era when no women ran so far. But it cannot qualify for lists for the 26.2-mile race.

Piercy may have belonged to the Mitcham Athletic Club, and if so would have been a regular runner. From birth records, Milroy and Lovesey have identified five candidates for this woman--unless Piercy was her married or stage name, or she was born elsewhere.

Founding heroine? Marathon precursor? Showgirl? She was a long-distance running pioneer. But the mysterious Violet Piercy has lost her place at the top of the formal world-record list.

Lists give us a sense of certainty, but real history is often more like negotiating a muddy lane on a dark night. Course measurement was an approximate art until the 1970s. With the early women's marathon, things are even more unsure, as performances were by definition unofficial, and often officially discouraged or suppressed.

But we need a list to replace the one that Piercy headed. So here is my best shot--not a formal world-record progression, but a timeline sequence of possible early "marathon" performances by women. Think of the destination women's marathon we could have if Greek scholars would only confirm the story of Stamata Revithi.

1896: Stamata Revithi (sometimes referred to as Melpomene) may have run the Athens Olympic marathon course, but accounts vary widely as to whether she did it.

1918: Marie-Louise Ledru runs a "marathon" in Paris, reported as 5:40, though there is no certainty about the distance, as France was slow to accept 26.2 as standard.

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1926: Violet Piercy runs the first world marathon record, in fact a solo 22 miles.

1931: Gazella Weinreich, age 16, attempts to enter a marathon from Laurel to Baltimore, but is excluded by the AAU. Later reports suggest she may have run behind the men.

1959: Arlene Pieper completes the Pikes Peak Marathon in 9:16.

1963: Merry Lepper and Lyn Carman jump into the Western Hemisphere Marathon, Culver City, Calif. After dodging officials, Lepper finishes in 3:37:07, though the course is now believed to have been short.

1964: Dale Greig (Scotland) is accepted in the Isle of Wight Marathon. She finishes in 3:27:25, the first documented world record on a reliable course. Two months later, July 21, 1964, Millie Sampson runs an official 3:19:33 in Auckland, New Zealand.

1966: Lyn Carman wins the Santa Barbara Marathon, the first of her three victories there. Roberta Gibb jumps into the Boston Marathon (unofficially 3:21:40).

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